41 replies to this topic

[MrFalcon]

Uploaded WIP 2.1
- Fixed infinite treasure taking
- Fixed non-existing surface glitch (I hope) not actually

Edited by MrFalcon, 23 June 2008 - 11:28 PM.

[Rayne the Betrayer]

I got that non-existing surface glitch. :S

[MrFalcon]

I got that non-existing surface glitch. :S

Are you sure its the same error that the other guy got? Can you give me any more information? Did happen when a card was being drawn or just out of the blue?

Did you task-swap or change the screen resolution or did your screen saver pop up or anything like that?

Edited by MrFalcon, 24 June 2008 - 12:28 AM.

[novaz]

very good game it's good that you can save your game. Also good
graphics and good music.

[MrFalcon]

Uploaded WIP 2.2
- Game can't be run in full screen
- Save and load are disabled (sorry novak)
- Link to this page added to bottom of screen
- Improved cleanup so that it runs better on older machines and (hopefully) reduces non-existent surface problems

Troubleshooting
Some people are getting errors about non-existent surfaces. This is probably caused by surfaces getting erased from video memory. The only way I've been able to duplicate it is by changing the screen resolution during play. So don't do that. Also, if you have screen-savers popping up during play, try disabling them. It might also be caused by old videocards. If you get this error, please report it with as much information as you can about when it happened and anything you may have been doing when it happened.

[PurpleFuzzy]

Really nice start, but it got repetitive after a few levels. You've got add more in than just treasure collecting and skulls that take away your health. And also, there really didn't seem like there was any strategic thinking to be had in the game... It seemed more like a game of chance.

I like it so far, though. Keep working on it.

-PF

[Grey Matter]

Love the concept and execution.

I realize the intent was to have a game where you grab treasure and avoid traps, thus the name, but if you take this game down to its "nuts and bolts", it is simply a game of luck, with a small amount of strategic interaction. Unless I missed something, the key to the game is to get as many health potions, so you can keep at least 2 life at all time. I hate to over-simplify, but the player has limited control other than clearing the occasional trap and playing the 2X treasure card at the start of a new level.

A key component that would take the game to the next level and give it some new depth would be encounter cards; simple card vs. card melee.
You draw a few henchmen cards at the start of the game to build your party, and occasionaly hire new ones, they have Combat rating, maybe a special ability (rez, scout, fireball room to room, disarm, etc.) and you occasionaly encounter enemies, you play one of your henchmen, compare values, and if the henchmen you played doesn't out-rank the enemy, you lose the party member, either way the enemy is eliminated.

Traps, instead lowering player life, takes out a henchmen, either at random or by player choice.

Again, this would take it from being a game of limited stategy, to one that would keep me playing more than once.

[MrFalcon]

Yes, I realize there isn't enough cards and, thus, not enough strategy. I've been busy lately and the time that I have been able to devote to the game has been spent trying to solve a boring technical problem that doesn't actually happen on my system.

Also consider that the strategy that you are using might not be the optimal strategy. What's your score? I just scored 24600 points with this version (WIP2.2). Granted, that was an exceptional game, but its not uncommon to get around 10,000. Did you get out of the dungeon alive? It doesn't count if you don't You might be surprised at how much skill plays a part in this game, even in its primitive form. Memorization, in particular, plays an important role as you start using potions of sudden insight and when it comes time to find your way back out of the dungeon. I've played this game dozens of times and I still genuinely enjoy it.

There will be no combat in this game (though future games will). Ultimately, designing this game is an exercise in simplicity, which is something I think is sorely lacking in the game industry. When you take most RPGs down to their "nuts and bolts" they are about healing yourself faster than you get hurt. Too many game designers try to mask this by throwing in more features and needless complexity and zillions of numbers without actually adding much of value. I will be adding more cards to this game, certainly, but I want to focus more on tuning the existing gameplay elements to be more satisfying. The final version of this game will still be about getting as much treasure as you can while avoiding traps.

Also keep in mind that this is basically a casual game meant to be played in a short period of time over and over. Some hard-core RPG players might not ever enjoy this game. My apologies to anyone whose suggestions I do not implement. Its not that they're not good suggestions, it just that I'm taking this in a particular direction for a particular kind of player and it's not going to satisfy everyone.

Edited by MrFalcon, 26 June 2008 - 10:40 PM.

[MrFalcon]

Uploaded WIP version 3
- title screen!
- 2 new cards
- 3 difficulty settings
- tweaked card distribution
- more efficient graphics
- revised multiplier system
- hotkeys added

The "Good Fortune" card now increases your multiplier by 1 every time you cast it, but if your health drops to 1 heart, then your multiplier drops back down ro 1. I think this makes for much more interesting gameplay.

You can clear the highscore list by pressing "Enter" and kill your player by pressing "Space".

The scores for my first 3 successful runs (on Easy):
84350
61200
14100

Feel free to share your scores!

[MrFalcon]

Uploaded WIP version 4:
- new graphical touches
- better menu system
- tutorial hints
- fixed gaseous form bug
- difficulty levels are "unlockable"

This is the last major update I'm going to make before uploading the finished product, so this is your last chance to report any bugs or annoyances. I will probably return to this game and add more cards and features at some point, but for now I'm not going to make any major changes. Thanks to everyone for your input!

[MrFalcon]

Oops! That last one had a problem with the card distribution. You are not supposed to get Gaseous Form cards on the first level. I've uploaded a new version, WIP4.1 thatworks properly.

[PurpleFuzzy]

I like the improvements. So, is the game close to being finished?

-PF

[ninjutsu63]

A great game, love the graphics. i can't wait until you add some more depth and cards to it. My best (and only) score was 1900, if anyone cares...
9/10 (taking into account its WIP status)

[Coffee]

ERROR in
action number 1
of Draw Event
for object obj_card:

Trying to use non-existing surface.

[MrFalcon]

There's some info on the non-existent surface glitch in the "Troubleshooting" section of the original post. I've done all I can, but it seems to be something about how gamemaker stores surfaces. The program is creating the surfaces, but they are disappearing from video memory for some people. Do you have a very old video card by any chance?

[MrFalcon]

I like the improvements. So, is the game close to being finished?

-PF

Yes. The finished product will be almost exactly the way it is now.

[MrFalcon]

IT IS FINISHED!

Grab it here.

It took a while, since I kept seeing more things that I wanted to add or polish. Mostly:
- added a summary page when you exit the dungeon
- improved the graphics a little more

The one that I uploaded doesn't have the soundtrack, though. I want to use instant play, but I also want to allow people the option of not downloading the rather large MP3 file. I think I'll embed the file for now. That makes it over 7MB. What do you think? Is that prohibitively large?

[PurpleFuzzy]

There will be some people who will not download the 7mb, but most people probably would because it's clearly not a low-quality game.

Glad to see you finished it. I'm enjoying it so far.

-PF

[MrFalcon]

There will be some people who will not download the 7mb, but most people probably would because it's clearly not a low-quality game.

Glad to see you finished it. I'm enjoying it so far.

-PF

*BLUSH* Aw, thanks. I'm going to look into lowering the quality of the music. In the meantime, the full, complete game is downloadable from the top of this topic if you want to keep it and/or play it with the music.

Is there a way to do Instant Play AND allow people to download the .exe if they want?

[MrFalcon]

Okay, I had some trouble changing the game file so I deleted it and re-uploaded it so, just for the record, the page for this game is Here